It’s National Pina Colada Day, Here’s The Origin Story

Happy Piña Colada Day!  A survey for it found almost everyone thinks it's a relaxing drink option, but ONLY on vacation.  Not a lot of us are unwinding with one at the end of a long workday.

Ahh, the refreshing Pina Colada, so tasty and tropical and only 3 little ingredients to use and yet so satisfying. All you need is pineapple juice, coconut cream and of course the star of the show...rum.

You can choose a simple clear rum or go for the dark type, either one will work, but the original recipe called for a clear rum. I prefer mine dark, I find that the darker rums seem smoother and perhaps a tad bit sweeter.

60% say a tropical drink puts them in a "vacation state of mind."  But just 35% would order a piña colada when NOT on vacation.  So it really is a vacation drink.

The poll was done by Hilton because they invented piña coladas in the 1950s.  Or, one of their bartenders supposedly came up with the recipe we use today.

A ton of cocktail books mentioned the drink as far back as the 1920s.  But a bartender named Ramón Marreno came up with the "official" recipe for a blended one at a Hilton resort in Puerto Rico in 1954.

The poll also asked about the song, and there are more than a few piña colada HATERS out there.  Given the option, 82% would take a piña colada . . . while 18% would prefer "getting caught in the rain." 

For whatever reason the song continues to amaze with it's ability to make people react one way or the other, either you love the song or you despise it. Consider it for what it truly is, a bona fide period piece. The song is an ode to the glorious 1970's when online dating would have meant you met the person doing The Hustle (line dancing). The fact that the couple in the song used the classified singles page to meet up is something that nobody under 40 can grasp that concept.

(Global Travel Media)